ABSTRACT
RNA interference(RNAi)is a powerful tool for functional gene analysis which has been successfully used to downregulate the expression levels of target genes.The goal of this research was to provide a highly robust and concise methodology for in-vitro screening of efficient siRNAs from a bulk to be used as a tool to protect potato plants against PVY invasion.In our study,a 480bp fragment of the eapsid protein gene of potato virus Y(CP-PVY)was used as a target to downregulate PVY mRNA expression in-vitro,as the CP gene interferes with viral uncoating,translation and replication.A total of six siRNAs were designed and screened through transient transfection assay and knockdown in expression of CP-PVY mRNA was calculated in CHO-k cells.CP-PVY mRNA knockdown efficiency was analyzed by RT-PCR and real-time PCR of CHO-k cells co-transfected with a CP gene construct and siRNAs.Six biological replicates were performed in this study.In our findings,one CP gene specific siRNA out of a total of six was found to be the most effective for knockdown of CP-PVY mRNA in transfected CHO-k cells by up to 80%-90%.